Secrets and Strawberries
by jekkah
Summary: Secrets are revealed when JJ and Hotch run into Garcia and Morgan at brunch *written for Liz G on Facebook*


_Author's Note: This is dedicated to Liz G. over on Facebook who asked for a JJ/Hotch story to cheer her up. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get it done this weekend as she requested, but I'm hoping she forgives me. I hope you enjoy, Liz!_

**Secrets and Strawberries**

"These are the best pancakes ever!" Garcia exclaimed, smacking her lips as she swallowed.

Morgan glanced at the banana pancakes covered with strawberries, chocolate chips, syrup, and whipped cream in disgust. "Are you sure that you don't have a tape worm?"

She glanced at him. "Keep it up and I'll make you bring these to me every morning for the next month... with potato chips, too! Ooh, I wonder if they have any potato chips that I can add to this."

"Garcia-"

"Oh, look! It's JJ and Henry! We should invite them to- Oh!" Garcia sat down abruptly, clamping her mouth shut.

Morgan shot her a confused look. He turned to the front of the restaurant to see JJ engaged in a kiss while Henry danced around them. He was unable to see the face of man. "That is definitely not Will."

Garcia sniffled. "No, it's not. How could she? I mean, it's bad enough that she's cheating on her husband, but to involve her son; my sweet, adorable, innocent godchild... It's inconceivable."

"It's even worse than that," Morgan sighed as JJ and the man stopped kissing. "Take a look at who she's making out with."

"Who?" Garcia's head shot up over the booth. "Oh. My. God."

Grabbing her shirt to yank her back down, Morgan hissed, "Get down before they see you! I don't want to be involved in this."

Garcia hid her face in her hands. "What are we going to do? They're going to see us! There's no way to sneak out of this place."

"I believe it's too late," Morgan groaned. Garcia looked to see Henry jumping up and down.

"Look, Mommy!" Henry shouted, his voice carrying across the restaurant. "It's Aunt Penny and her boyfriend who isn't her boyfriend even though Uncle Spence says he is!"

Garcia cringed at the surprised and guilty expressions on the faces of JJ and her lover. She was afraid her face would burst into flames as they walked towards the table. "Hey, Henry. Hi, Jayje." Garcia took a deep breath. "Hey, Hotch. Where's Jack?"

"Here, I am," Jack announced, popping out from behind his father.

"Hey, there, little man," Morgan said, patting Jack's shoulder. What brings you here?"

Jack glanced at Hotch and JJ, who remained quiet. "We have brunch here every Sunday. Mom says it's the only time that she can guarantee that we'll all be together for a meal."

Both Morgan and Garcia's jaws dropped. In unison, they exclaimed, "Mom?"

"Boys," JJ said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders, "why don't you go to the table with your dad? I need to talk with Aunt Penny and Uncle Derek for a minute."

"Are you going to be okay?" Hotch muttered to her, grabbing her hand.

JJ gave his hand a squeeze, staring deep into his eyes. "I'll be fine."

Garcia waited until the boys were out of earshot before turning to her friend. "JJ, what is going on? What are you thinking, involving Henry in your affair? And you're letting Jack call you 'Mom'? How could you cheat on your husband?"

"Calm down, baby girl," Morgan whispered as Garcia's face grew redder.

"I'm not cheating on my husband," JJ seethed. "In fact-"

"In fact, her husband is standing right here," Hotch finished, moving beside JJ. He kissed her temple, apologetically. "Sorry, you looked a bit distressed." Hotch smiled. "The boys are fine. They're currently coloring on the back of the place mats."

Morgan glanced from Hotch to Garcia and back to Hotch. "I'm sorry, but I'm confused. How are you JJ's husband?"

JJ rubbed her forehead. "It's actually a bit of a funny story. See, it turns out that the wedding that Rossi threw for Will and me wasn't exactly legal."

"It wasn't?" Garcia asked. She absently chewed on a strawberry. "But we had a reception and a dress and flowers and everything."

"What he didn't have was someone who was actually authorized to perform weddings," JJ explained. "It doesn't really matter; it was probably for the best. By the time that Will and I discovered the mistake, we decided that we didn't really want to be married to each other. It was a lot less messy this way."

Hotch put his arm around JJ. "JJ and Henry came my house the day that they decided this. She wanted a few days to figure out what he next steps were going to be. The problem was that during the course of explaining to me what had happened, I got a few things mixed up."

JJ leaned against him and giggled. "He thought that I was going back to Will. He let out this total rant about how wrong for me Will was and that this was my opportunity to break free from a relationship that was holding me back." She stared off dreamily. "I don't know why, but somewhere in the middle of all of that, I realized that I was completely and totally in love with this man."

"So, she kissed," Hotch continued. "She kissed me and I have never had such a feeling of completion in my life. I knew that I was finally home."

"I'm pretty sure that we would have had sex right there on the floor if the boys hadn't decided at that moment to run into the room." JJ smiled at the memory. "I asked him right then and there to marry me."

Morgan sniggered. "You let her propose."

Hotch shrugged. "I learned a long time ago that I don't 'let' JJ do anything." He squinted towards Garcia who was picking up another strawberry. "Something that you might want to keep in mind."

"Besides," JJ said, bringing the conversation back to them, "he turned right around and proposed to me with his grandmother's ring."

Hotch captured her hand and rubbed the ring. "My grandmother told me to give it to the girl that owns my heart completely. JJ is the _only_ one that has ever even seen the ring." He kissed her hand. "We talked to the boys that entire weekend and once we were sure that they were okay with everything, we went to the courthouse and got married."

JJ raised an eyebrow. "And I made sure that this one was legal."

"I don't understand why you didn't tell us," Garcia told him, her eyes watery.

"Cruz asked us not to," JJ replied. "He thought we would have a better shot of being able to stay on the same team if we kept it quiet and were able to prove that nothing changed." She looked contrite at Garcia's distress. "I swear we were going to tell you the minute that the powers made a decision."

Morgan reached across the table to hold Garcia's hand. "Well, I guess the only thing to say then is 'Congratulations'."

JJ hugged him, whispering, "Thank you."

"Congratulations," Garcia echoed. She stood and hugged them both tightly. "Really, I'm happy for you. Stunned, but it couldn't happen to more deserving people." She turned to Hotch. "You better take real good care of my girl, Hotch. You do not want to know what I can do if you don't."

"I don't want to know!" Hotch joked before his eyes softened. "I will do everything in my power to keep her happy for the rest of my life." Hotch caught sight of Jack waving at him. "We should probably get back to the boys. We'll talk about this later, okay?"

JJ bit her bottom lip as Morgan and Garcia nodded. "And we'll come clean with the rest of the team. You shouldn't have to keep our secret for us."

Morgan sighed in relief. "We appreciate that. See you guys tomorrow."

"Oh, Penny, one more thing." JJ waited until Hotch returned to the boys to lean down to Garcia's ear. "You may want to pick up a pregnancy test on your way home. You hate strawberries."

THE END


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